Social Software in Libraries

"A social networking site is an online location where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects them to other users." [Pew Reports]



question: who is really using them?
answer: a lot of people

• My Facebook page (scr, another example)
• My MySpace page (scr)
• My Flickr page (scr)
• My del.icio.us page (scr)
• More social networking options, handout (word doc, you have a print copy)

• DOPA may come back, epsecially for schools
• some things to think about for libraries
• needs to fit in with existing mission/principles
• needs to fit in with existing internet use policies
• Two social/library community situations.... in a deep network users are already networked and libraries are responding to a situation that exists. in a shallow network like the one I work in libraries ar setting up the connections and saying "this is what we think is important

• responsive
• play it as it lays
• learn through interaction

• proactive
• setting good examples
• no "computers are hard" talk
• learn through prof. development & experimentation

• Illinois Library Association + MySpace's NetSafe program
• Awesome resources on Facebook
• Libraries with MySpace pages for teens (scr1, scr2, example)
• Flickr: Rutland Free Library, Librarian's Desks, Library Postcards
• Social software in libraries website

[more New England Libraries coming up....]

• What's it called and how it's spelled.
• What it's for and what it's actually used for.
• How you can use it, how kids can use it.
• What's private and what's visible.
• What's normal and what's trouble.

• Cyber Safe Kids - Cyber Savvy Teens - free booklet
• Kids rules for online safety
• NetSafe & bookmarks
• GetNetWise & BlogSafety
• Pew Report: Social Networking and Teens
• Pew Report: Internet's Broader Role in Campaign 2008

Jessamyn West is a community technology librarian and the editor of the weblog librarian.net. She teaches email classes for seniors, builds tiny websites for tiny libraries and advocates for sensible technology use for everyone.

IM her at iamthebestartist.

This presentation was created in HTML using CSS. There was no PowerPoint involved in this presentation except as a nagging bad example. The layout and stylesheet are available to borrow via a share and share alike creative commons license. See source code for details.

slides version | printable version